I've seen Spirit of the Marathon. I was annoyed with the regular folks -- the first timers and those going for BQs. Seemed boring and kind of pointless. I want to watch elite athletes run, and train. I run with regular folks every day. Why waste my time watching them?

I've seen Spirit of the Marathon. I was annoyed with the regular folks -- the first timers and those going for BQs. Seemed boring and kind of pointless. I want to watch elite athletes run, and train. I run with regular folks every day. Why waste my time watching them?

I liked it. I like watching the regular folks, because it gives hope to people like me.

I've seen Spirit of the Marathon. I was annoyed with the regular folks -- the first timers and those going for BQs. Seemed boring and kind of pointless. I want to watch elite athletes run, and train. I run with regular folks every day. Why waste my time watching them?

"Run for your Life" - Documentary of the founding and history of the NYC Marathon, mostly focusing on the founder Fred Lebow. Probably the best of the running documentaries I've seen.

"Across the Sahara" - I think that's what it's called. 3 guys run across the Sahara desert . . . the long way (West to East). Pretty interesting, but mostly for group-dynamic issues. Demonstrates the struggles of trying to lead a group of people to do something very very stressful and how the compacted stress on the leader, with his own doubts and pains along with the morale crushing doubts vocalized by his team, can turn someone into a modern Ahab. Not really that interesting from a running perspective, though.

2014 Goals: sub-3 Marathon

Current Status 11/10: Back to building up miles. Junk feels mostly okay. Kinda.

"Lemons Can Run" - a young man's journey to understand the often stormy relationship he had with his mother, six years after her death. A personal account of bereavement, set to the back drop of his attempt to run the London marathon - in costume as a bright yellow lemon. Available on Vimeo, here: http://vimeo.com/15271911

The Long Green Line was definitely good for a high school level. Without Limits and Prefontaine were good for most runners with any remote care about a professional with a Hollywood twist. I've seen a couple about Kenyans and Ethiopians, but I don't remember their names. Really it seemed to me (and this is oversimplifying it) but that they didn't have much else to do other than run, though their parents would have preferred they helped around the house more with their eight other siblings.

I really just want to see a documentary that gives one day in the life of a professional athlete. I want to see all the nitty gritty detail of getting up in the morning, preparing for the day, eating, warming up, an actual workout, post-run recovery, and plopping down in bed. If we're lucky there will even be a shower scene or two.

rlemert

posted: 7/24/2012 at 9:43 AM

I really liked the Nova "Marathon Challenge" episode on PBS. They followed several "generally sedentary" individuals as they trained them for the Boston Marathon. As far as I'm concerned, it shows how the marathon is not some mythical beast that only the super-annointed can complete, but something that is within the grasp of "real people."

Earlier in this thread, someone commented that they found documentaries about "real people" to be boring, and they prefer to watch stories about the elite runners. While the latter do often have interesting stories, they're living in a world that I have no connection to and with which I cannot relate. With "real people", on the other hand, I can see myself in their position. It gives me both a goal to work for and a model that I can follow.

xor

posted: 7/24/2012 at 10:15 AM

I think there should be a follow-up to Running the Sahara given that one of the three main dudes went to pokey for stuff somewhat-perhaps related to funding that movie.

I didn't really like Spirit of the Marathon. But I realize that I probably wasn't the demographic.

Unbreakable is good.

Unless Average Joe has a great back story, I'm gonna get bored (see: Spirit) whether s/he is running a first one, trying to BQ, or whatever. And I don't give a poop about watching someone famous prepare for a marathon.

I think a behind the scenes doc about what it takes to put on a giant race would be kind of cool.

I think there should be a follow-up to Running the Sahara given that one of the three main dudes went to pokey for stuff somewhat-perhaps related to funding that movie.

I didn't really like Spirit of the Marathon. But I realize that I probably wasn't the demographic.

Unbreakable is good.

Unless Average Joe has a great back story, I'm gonna get bored (see: Spirit) whether s/he is running a first one, trying to BQ, or whatever. And I don't give a poop about watching someone famous prepare for a marathon.

I think a behind the scenes doc about what it takes to put on a giant race would be kind of cool.

I agree about the behind the scenes doc, though I'd not be that excited about what it takes to put on a Rock n'Roll kind of event.

I want to see Unbreakable, but not enough to pay $25 for the DVD. I would pay something less to be able to see it online,. It was screened here in Charlottesville. Unfortunately, it was midweek and interfered with something (dinner/sports practice/board meeting/can't remember).

I've seen Prefontaine a number of times -- though it's not really a documentary, of course. The best was watching it with my kids one rainy Saturday. When Pre was running the 5000 m in Munich, my eldest (26) said "he's gonna lose guys!" The two little ones (8 & 11) started screaming "no no he has to win! see, he's winning! He's going to win!" when he lost, they were crushed. "How did you know? Have you SEEN this movie?" Poor kids. (should I have put in a spoiler alert??)